Making Room for What Matters

“Release all that no longer serves you.”

For years I’ve been obsessed with organizing. It has consumed a lot of my conscious and unconscious thoughts. Truly there are things I like about myself - I am a devoted mom, a good friend, a committed “worker”, a creative - but one of the things that tops my list of what is in the “definitely needs work” column - I am a bit challenged by organization. The awareness of this disorganization is always a distraction - a program running in the background.

Why is this woman who states that her mission is to embolden women to create a fulfilling “Next Act” for themselves writing about organization? What does this have to do with finding fulfillment you may wonder? Because...it impacts everything. It can stand in your way - literally and figuratively - of creating the life you envision for yourself, the life you say you want. It weighs us down, it makes us tired and overwhelmed; and it creates mental clutter. These states of being are not ways to be fully inspired and energized to take  -  it  -  on!

Over the years I have bought all manner of organizational tools. I love The Container Store. I know I’m not alone. Yet even with all the proper “tools” - bins and boxes, folders and the all-important label maker - organization still eludes me. From time-to-time I am convinced that I was born without the organizational gene. Interestingly, though, I can see “solutions” for everyone else. I have even thought being a Professional Organizer could be pretty satisfying. Perhaps it’s because I’m just too close to it all. Which again supports the idea that there is a lot more to it than some extraneous office papers yet to be filed. 

So why do many of us allow clutter in our lives? It may just be symptomatic of something else. Probably a big reason some are organizationally challenged is that we are chasing perfection. In an attempt to get things “just right” we wait for the perfect time, the perfect conditions, the inspiration -  best, all three converging at once - to tackle it all. Consider that clutter may be keeping you from fully manifesting some wonderful possibilities because it is literally blocking them from coming into your life.

Clearing the clutter can be satisfying but also overwhelming and a bit uncomfortable. What have you been hanging on to - physically and metaphorically? Years of deferred decisions, sunk costs, and with closer examination, quite probably a bit of fear and resistance is mixed in with those papers, piles and boxes. While you can attempt to make progress in an area, clutter may continue to haunt you and return in some form - Ahem! Calendar clutter, weight clutter…? - unless you take some time to get to the root of it. What is it really saying about what’s going on with you?

Often many of the saved items validate our past. It’s proof of who we were, and perhaps are reminders of our previous chapters - the accomplishments and accolades from the life we have led. If you got rid of some of the physical manifestations, there may not be proof that you ever lived a bigger life previously. Subconsciously we may believe that life, those accomplishments, those connections, would all vanish with discarding the mementos as they serve as ticklers. At the same time, we may not want to dig into some of the contents of boxes, drawers, crammed closets, and spaces in attics and basements used to their maximum capacity as they may contain items that will remind us of lingering regrets - the shouldas, couldas, wouldas - and bring about a sense of loss. Naturally we may want to avoid those unpleasant feelings. 

Now try this on. How would it feel to move forward, unencumbered by all of this past, particularly those regrets, and clear the decks for new adventures? It doesn’t diminish those parts of your life that you want to hang onto - those are still real, they happened - but it does release you from some of the “mistakes” made. (We can even frame THAT and call it learning.)

Streamline your life so you can have more mental and emotional capacity to get on with it: make room for something that is really going to fill you up in a more meaningful way at THIS stage of life. Release all that really no longer serves you. It’s difficult to move forward completely without doing this work. Be prepared as it most probably will feel a bit unsettling at times, but recognize the only way to get to the other side of what waits for you is right through it.

Start digging. While you get to work on clearing out those boxes, take some time to journal about it. How do you feel before you set to work, how do you feel while in the process and how do you feel immediately after?

To move forward and cast a vision for our “Next Act” consider the role that clutter is playing. Is it holding you back from going after a more fulfilling life? If your answer is yes, think about how much power you are giving physical objects - STUFF that is nothing more than some form of energy - some of it stagnant. Start clearing the decks to create a beautiful backdrop for the life you want to have.